"Let's Keep Christ in Christmas'

This is the silliest statement ever.

But we always hear this statement spoken by those who want to remember the real “reason for the season” instead of getting caught up in the materialism and trappings associated with the holidays.

Really though. . . If Christ is our Life (Col. 3: 4), if He is the Lord and Lover of our hearts, if He is everything to us. . . WHY on earth would we need to remind ourselves to keep Him as the center?

The truth is, our minds are not on Christ at all. Our hearts are not His. Our Spirits are not His. We may say they are, that we love Him, that He is our Lord, but the reality of our lives speaks differently. How do we know?

The holiday season serves to reveal to those listening exactly where our hearts truly are.

Where are our hearts? Where are our thoughts? Where are our minds? On the gifts we’re planning to get for our kids so that we can make sure the little ones have an exciting and memorable Christmas. On the little things I’m hoping someone will give me or to treat myself to as a Christmas gift. On trying to remember each family member and friend so that we don’t leave anyone out. We walk through the stores and we see hundreds of red, gold, green, sparkling advertisements, all singing at us to buy, buy, buy, so that we can make either ourselves or our loved ones happy.

It’s easy to blame the shopping, though. It is so easy to say, “yeah, Christmas is way too commercialized” when in fact the presents may not be the true idol of your heart. But there are other idols, more subtle and good-seeming. The happy family times? The traditions? The getting together with family members you haven’t seen for months, laughing over funny stories and hot chocolate, enjoying the warmth of hearty food and conversation, the thrill of seeing your kids experience something new for the first time. These things keep us going, keep us fresh, keep Christmas alive and exciting and something to look forward to. These are the things that capture our hearts about Christmas, not Jesus.

Sure, we squeeze Christ in. We know we should. We read Luke 2 on Christmas Day, set up a crèche in our home, attend a Christmas concert or pageant. We play our kids the old-fashioned “Christian” Christmas music like “Silent Night” and “Hark the Harold Angels Sing” instead of just “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or “Jingle Bell Rock”. We tell the nativity story. We listen to stirring advent-themed messages during the month of December. We may read the prophecies of Christ’s coming. We may even set up a crèche lawn decoration in addition to our Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and elaborate lights. We find ways to convince ourselves that it is Jesus that matters to us, that Christ is truly important.

You know the feeling when you order chicken alfredo at an Italian restaurant, and when your plate arrives, you are greeted by a huge portion of pasta but have to search beneath the fettuccine to locate two or three lonely pieces of chicken? This is how it is with our attempts to squeeze Jesus into our holidays—we include enough to make us feel like we can get away with what we call it—a “Christ-centered Christmas”—while our hearts are filled with empty carbs or fat. With ourselves and what we want to do. The reality is that the “Christ” that we insert into OUR holiday time is NOT who Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth, truly IS.

But be real, who doesn’t want to have a good holiday time? Who doesn’t love these holiday memories? Everyone is like this.

Yes, everyone is like this. And everyone is equally blind to what they are really doing by trying to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” They are attempting to package the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—who both has given and deserves everything—into a tiny gift-wrapped box, just one out of the many glittering and shiny gifts under the tree of our lives.

Jesus cannot be contained like this, though. It’s impossible. He is Everything. . . or He is nothing. To us, I mean. To all of us, we must admit to ourselves that there is no in between. We canNOT serve both God and money / family / tradition / what feels good / myself. If we think we can balance both, I tell you that we do NOT truly know the real Christ.

 “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas this year.”

No. If this is what you are striving to do, He has never truly been there at all.

What Single Women Ask God for. . . and Get

1 Samuel 8. The Israelite people, up till this time, have been governed by the Lord, with no visible king over their country. God wanted them to follow Him alone and be satisfied with that; they are supposed to be a people set apart to be His alone. However,they come up to Him and say “appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” (v. 5) A perfectly normal request, right? Doesn’t sound like a bad thing. But. . . the Lord says “It is not you (Samuel ) they have rejected, but they have rejected Me.” Apparently to God, it was a bad thing they had asked him. Why? Because a physical king is bad? No, because their request showed they were not satisfied with God completely. They also felt jealous of the other nations who had a king to lead them. They wanted something more tangible, more concrete, more real to put their faith, comfort, and security in.

In a way, the Israelites are just like us women who ask God. . . for a husband. Boyfriend. Godly man. Relationship. Whatever our heart's request may be. Doesn’t sound like a bad thing to ask, right? There’s nothing wrong with asking for a godly man in our lives, we think. But actually . . . think about it. Why do we ask God for such a thing? We know God is God, all powerful, all loving, wonderful, and good, so if He is truly all that but hasn’t yet given us a man in our lives, why should we feel discontent, wishing we had a godly husband “like the other nations” or in this case “like all my other girl friends who are in relationships.” ;-) The reason we feel discontent way down inside is because our hearts are not truly in love with God, our true King. As much as we acknowledge him verbally, our hearts actually cannot give up the fact that what we we really really really want is an “earthly king”. . .  or in the case of us women, a husband.

God is sad at the Israelites’ request, but He doesn’t refuse them outright. He instead warns them of what will inevitably happen if He does give them an earthly king. The king will take their sons and daughters as his slaves, etc., take a portion of their possessions, cattle, vineyards, crops, etc. In short, having a king WON’T end up being as good as the people had expected. In fact, it will really stink at times. Maybe first it will seem cool to have a king, but eventually, you will realize that you are far from 100% happy even with your king that you had desired and asked for.

How much is this like our earthly relationships? When we’re single, we loooooong to have an amazing man in our lives. Yet, oftentimes, the Lord eventually gives us a man. Wow! How wonderful! God is so good! At first, we are so happy and feel on top of the world. But then time passes, and we realize that still we are not totally satisfied. The man who once awed us isn’t actually perfect. He makes  a lot of mistakes. Quite frankly, he annoys me. Sure, he can be sweet and I remember why I fell in love, but he’s so selfish for the most part! In fact, if we are honest with ourselves there is something in us that occasionally looks back on those good old days of being single and “free” and feels wistful, wishing we could be back there, at least for part of the time. Or maybe we just try harder to love him and be a good wife. Surely if we work harder, things will become the paradise I had always imagined with my "earthly king." We feel this way because we'd rather keep trying ourselves than come to God with a repentant heart.

In the story of the Israelites, God warns the people up front about what will happen if He gives them a king (v. 10-18). "Do you still want a king now?" Samuel says. "YES!" the people say. “We want a king over us.”(v. 19) Despite the loving warning of the Heavenly Father, we still persist in wanting what the thing (or person) we want. In our minds, the thing we want seems good and highly to be desired. How can bad come from wanting a king? Silly. How can bad come from wanting a husband? Equally silly. We feel totally correct, and even godly, in our request.

We don’t realize we are rejecting God. Our true King. Our true Husband. Our ONLY Husband.

Yes, rejecting Him. We must let our hearts admit that our sin is that deep.

In the end, the Lord gives them a king. He gives them their heart’s desire. What could make Him sadder than this? Yet, He doesn’t force Himself into our hearts. He lets us have our way. He lets us travel along our own path, following our own hearts, until eventually we realize our dreams didn’t take us where we'd hoped they would. Our hearts remain restless. Then, in that place, will we finally realize our stupid selfishness? Not just be sad about our circumstances, but truly broken before God? Knowing with the core of our souls that we have deeply offended God, that we have spit in His loving face, and slapped aside the outstretched bleeding hands of Christ? That we have rejected Him (v. 7). All for the sake of our passions. Only in the place of true brokenness will HE come to US. When we find ourselves in the wildernesses of our own hearts, He will come and allure us, washing our wounds and speaking tender words of love to us. I am the only one who can be your true Husband. I have never stopped loving you. Just reach out your hands and let Me capture you in my arms. Be with Me forever.  Let your heart be Mine.

If you are single  don't desire a relationship. Desire JESUS. If you are in a relationship, don't desire to be single. Neither should you take satisfaction in your relationship. It won't satisfy you. Your situation is the same; desire JESUS. Pray dangerous prayers of surrender that will let Him take full and unbridled reign over your life with His Spirit. Until there is indeed nothing we would ask God for. . . but Himself.

Who is your Evidence?

There are many many people in this world who believe they are christians. . .  but deny Jesus as
Christ. They would say 'We do not deny Jesus, in fact we love him and we love God. Let us tell you our salvation story about our personal relationship with Jesus..."

These are the ones of whom it is written, "they are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality." They are friends, family, nice and good people in all outward senses of the word. They may not visibly display any (although they certainly slip from time to time) of the bad fruit of a sinful heart. Yet inwardly, to their oblivious heart (oblivious because their sin has blinded them to the truth) they are ferocious wolves. They destroy the true message of the cross and of Christ. They are godless men who change grace, (which is given freely without any man being able to earn it,) into a trap for people who may just be beginning to escape the world and sins deceitful desires, saying, 'I am a christian even though I sin." They have large congregations, accountability, bible studies, churches, and have become a great ally of sin and a stronghold against the truth.

All the while they seduce the unstable with honeyed words: "We love you, We love God, We are God's Children." They are a venomous brood that leads all their converts into greater sin and ultimately to destruction apart from the Life which only the one True and Living God, through Christ Jesus, can bring. They are utterly detestable to the Lord, and as it is written he will spew them from his mouth in the last times.

They say they have been saved, they beg and plead with themselves, absolutely convinced that it is not 'me' that is deceived. No, "It's the guy who wrote this, or somebody else." But I tell you that, "No," it is you. You are unwilling to come to the Light to be cleansed and purified, you continue to live in your sin every day. You make excuses for yourself saying, "Well I know that I am saved, I know I sin but I know that I died with Christ and therefore I will not be held accountable because Jesus' blood has washed me clean in God's sight." You nod your head to the historical accuracy of scripture yet you will not come to Jesus Himself to actually be cleansed. Do you not know that if you are in Christ you have, "died to sin; how can you live in it any longer? ... anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

There is a greater deception yet: with an insatiable lust for sin, people will continue and go out in bold arrogance, saying, "anyone that has died has been freed from sin... see! that means when your body has died you are free." Again, I tell you the truth: you are wrong. The body has been long accounted as nothing in God's eyes; it is the spirit and heart by which the Lord has judged man. Maybe this sounds too extreme, just the interpretation of a super-dedicated Christian, not for normal Christians. We all sin; there's no denying that.  . . how could God possibly mean that you can indeed be free from sin. . . while on earth? But listen to Christ. . . don't resist the Holy Spirit.  Why do you continue to deny his voice? To deny the Truth?

"What is the truth?" you might ask.

It is Christ in you. A faith that does not merely leave you with a hopeful/inspirational thought that makes you feel fueled or motivated through your days that when you die you will be with God. No! May it never be so! It is a faith that actually does Purify! Actually does Redeem! Sets free the captive! Releases from bondage and delivers from darkness into LIGHT!

You might also say, "who are you? You're just some guy, why should I listen to you? There are hundreds if not thousands of years of people who have believed the very same thing I believe and I am confident they are in heaven with God." As I write this I totally understand your perspective; know, however, that it is not I who is the judge.  No, it is Jesus' words that will be your judge in the last day. Why do you call him Lord, yet do not obey his commands? And trying to obey his commands isn't even good enough. I tell you truly if you continue in this way, you who call him Lord will go before him, and He will tell you to depart for He never knew you.

We are truly and thoroughly hopeless and defenseless. We are condemned.

Unless, there is a Spirit, pure and sinless, that is born inside of you and utterly washes you clean, making you a new creature.

To believe in Jesus Christ IS to be set free. If you are not set free, if you are in bondage to sin, if you are a slave to your own desires, if you long for this world and its treasures, if you do anything independent from the gentle guidance of the Living God. . .  then you walk the broad path of destruction. Enter through the narrow Way, I beseech you with the love of Christ, hear His voice within your heart and obey HIM. I am writing this to you my friends because I was once deceived in this way. I was once the greatest of offenders of Jesus Christ, appearing as an angel of light, yet my heart was filthy. My alleged love for Christ and my professed words of praise were a great offense to God, like filthy rags, yet I wore them like they were robes of righteousness. It is by the grace of God--beyond all understanding, comprehension, ability, and intelligence--that any may come into His glorious light and beautiful presence.

I write this to you, beseeching you: "Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." It is His light alone which can purify, His blood alone which is able to remove all our sin; come and be washed clean! Come, you who are dirty and unclean! Come to the waters and drink of the Wellspring of eternal life!

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) So that Christ is revealed in your heart; that you might be able to see and have the knowledge of the glory of God, to obey the Spirit of the Lord 'as to light shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.' (2 Peter 1:19) It is not meaningless talk that has no power, but is the power of a true and living God. As Paul spoke long ago, 'My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.'

If you say and believe you serve the true God, Who is the evidence in your life?

The Living Grain

Yesterday I read something with Jennifer, it's from Genesis: when Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. Joseph became the high ruler of Egypt and this is what he said to his brothers who came begging for food:

"Come close to me... I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! Now, do not be distressed... because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you... there has been a famine in the land and there will be no plowing or reaping. But God has sent me to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then it was not you who sent me here, but God." I am now, "ruler of all Egypt... Come down to me, don't delay. You shall live... and be near me... I will provide for you... otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute."

These are like the spiritual words of Christ to us all. He beckons us to come close to him. (Acts 17:27) We have sold intimacy and unity with Christ for money, power, jobs, relationships, love of the world, self gain, and on and on... He tells us this very day as Joseph did his brothers, 'there is a famine in the land and whatever you plant will not grow, whatever you eat will not fill you. As when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So it is today. You hope for a new home but once you get it, you are still not satisfied. You hope for intimacy, once you get it, you are not satisfied. You hope for that new job, once you get it, you are not satisfied. This is GODS plan. For it is Jesus alone who is ruler of all Egypt (sin) and if you come to Him. You WILL live. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will remain destitute. For He ALONE is the bread of life, as it is written: "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Consider this, do you hunger? do you thirst? Christ has come that we might have life abundantly. This is the spiritual life, of which it is written: "I will dwell in them and walk among them..." "For of this you can be sure, that no sexually immoral, impure, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words. Please don't get hung up on the first one, thinking "I'm not sexually immoral" so I'm all set. No, it's far deeper than that. Have you ever lusted after anything? Do you ever wish you could have something, anything, that you don't? If so, you are the covetous person, the idolator, which is the same as sexual immorality. If we want or value ANYTHING, then we are actually worshiping it. The worship of ANYTHING other than God is the evidence of the spiritual desert within our hearts.

We are ALL in the land of famine, and we need to come to get the spiritual Grain, the LIVING
Bread!

Where does God live?

The Lord said, "Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool; where is the house that you will build for me, and what is the place of my rest?’

And Solomon said, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

Stephen affirmed it before the high-priest saying, 'the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands; for heaven is God's throne, and earth is his footstool; what house will you build me, said the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hands made all these things? You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the holy ghost; as your forefathers did, so do you.'

Who then are the people that persecute the spirit of God? It is those who resist the Holy Spirit and who are not themselves temples for the Spirit of God, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” It was those who wanted the outward and appearance level church, who didn't have the Spirit; they refused to be taught and rejected the true temple of God which is NOT a building made by man.

Paul said, ‘The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not worshiped by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’

We are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people... ’ and again, “I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. ‘I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” However, “what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” If we are entertaining anything of ourselves in our hearts at the same time as trying to worship God, we are actually idolators. “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

If we deny the Truth, longing for an outward kingdom and an outward temple and serve the idols of our hearts, then our hearts are NOT God's Temple. Understand that it is those who were stiff necked and uncircumcised in their hearts who could not hear the words of the Spirit of God. So the question that we all should ask is “Am I like this?” The stiff necked and uncircumcised way is clear, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” If we are guilty in any of these ways, if we serve ourselves, live for ourselves, serve an outward temple, are 'trying to be more holy,' but hide what our hearts are REALLY like, then we simply live in a religion with no power. We serve nothing but ourselves, but we label it God, and there is no worse thing. We're deceiving ourselves into feeling like everything is 'ok,' everything is 'good,' everything is 'happy.'

Know what God has spoken of from the beginning, the mystery, which is 'Christ in you, the hope of glory.' So that every one may truly say, 'I live, and move, and have my being in God.” And know that the Spirit of God will bring you out of the outward and appearance level kingdom, away from a physical building which mans hands have made; of metal, stone, and wood. This is an image that has been shattered by the Mountain, the precious Cornerstone of the True Church of God. THIS Church, of which Christ is the head, is made of living stones, living members, a household of the Spirit: a mortar and stone which shines with the Light of God in Christ Jesus. No man may claim righteousness in This House, and no man may make himself holy in This House; for the holiness and righteousness of This House is Christ Himself.

Take a few moments to read the following verses from Matthew 6:19-34.

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Are you storing up treasures for yourself on this earth? Is the food, drink, clothing, money, and material things that you see everyday the things that take up your thoughts? Do you worry about even the most basic things of life? Are you concerned about how you appear to others or what others think of you? If the answer to even ONE of these questions is 'yes' or even 'kind of' then it is the evidence that you serve the outward church... the temple of yourself.

It’s a love story. . . Baby, just say “YES.”

Just say yes. 

That’s it. 

That’s it? But what else? Surely that can’t be it. What do you require of me?

What do I have to do? What do I have to do for you? Tell me, please. I just want to know. God, I love you. Please just tell me what I need to do to please you. To glorify you. I want to serve you, to give my life to you, to follow you. This is what I want, really God, just answer my prayer and show me my calling for my life. show me what you want me to do. 

 

But listen, Jesus says. Just stop what you think is passionate praying and simply listen. Listen to what He says. And don’t listen with your mind. Listen with your heart. 

I am the Way. I am the Truth. I am the Life. I AM. I. 

So maybe like the Jews in John 6 who have just seen Jesus multiply the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and now feel desperate to follow this man, you ask Him “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (6:28). You feel so desperate, so serious, about how to learn from this great teacher, this miracle worker who can heal cripples and provide food out of nothing for thousands. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to follow such a person? Of course! He can do so many things. . . just think. . . think of all the things he could do for me. 

 

For me?

 

Hmmm, think about that for a moment. . . do we follow Jesus because we are excited to see what He can do for me? 

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. I want to go to heaven, I want to know I have eternal life, I want to have eternal security when I die, I want to know my life has purpose. 

Take a step back a moment from these thoughts that we believe we have the right to have. Take a step back and let us open our hearts to what Jesus says. What Jesus wants for our lives. He says to the inquiring Jews in verse 29, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.”

But that didn’t answer their question; they had wanted Him to tell them what to do in order to follow them. So they rephrased their question: “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness” (v. 30) They want a sign from Him, something they can see. Jesus then answers ‘It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

“Sir, give us this bread” the Jews say. They still feel that they want Him. But do they really? Jesus’ next statement reveals the truth. He declares “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.” (v. 35) “Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. but as I told you, you have seen me, and still you do not believe. . . my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Come to Me. 

Believe in Me. 

Look to Me. 

Is this a “to do” list that Jesus is giving them? Or merely an invitation to trust who He is? To trust His sufficiency, His power to draw their souls, His Spirit, His life? To eat of the true bread which is not a list of do’s and don’ts but Jesus Himself? Just to take the plunge of simple faith . . . in Jesus. 

To just say “yes.”

Indeed, this is what Jesus wants from us. This is all Jesus wants from us, is to say “yes.” Not just to say it with our lips, which can be done by anyone, but to say it with our whole hearts. The way you would say “Yes” to the perfect Lover who loves us unfathomably and unconditionally, so much more than any earthly love we have ever known or imagined. The way you would say it, knowing that to say “yes” to this Lover is to renounce forever all other lovers that have ever wooed our hearts, especially His biggest rival. . . our very own selves. Yes. To renounce our very selves. (“Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”) Luke 17:33

Jesus’ call of love is that strong. It must be that strong, that exclusive, that it would forever rescue us from evil. “Arise, my darling, and come with ME.” (Song of Solomon 3:10). Not with Me and all your other lovers. Not with me and your selfish, sinful nature. But with Me alone. For I will purge you of yourself and make you a new creature. . . a pure, sinless, spotless virgin betrothed to Me. The righteousness will not be of yourself, of your own purity or holiness, for THAT isn’t real righteousness at all. But it will be the pure and holy covering of MY blood with MY Spirit living in You. 

The truth we must know is this. Unlike the beautiful princess in Taylor Swift’s music video of “Love Story,” we are not beautiful. We are not princesses. In fact, there is absolutely nothing attractive about us at all, nothing that would make the amazing Lover, Jesus, take notice of us in the slightest. Only our sin --which makes us disgusting, worthy of nothing but judgment and death. 

We try to fix ourselves. We try to improve. We try to go forward in our pursuit of Him, trying to do things to get him to take notice of us, to make ourselves worthy of Him. We try, like the Jews, to ask Him what we can do to please Him. But Jesus does not want us to choose doing things instead of His grace. If we do so, we by default are choosing ourselves. “I do not set aside the grace of God,” Paul says, “for if righteous could be gained through the law (doing things), Christ died for nothing.” (Galatians 2:21). Asking what we can do to please Him is to insult (as well as reject) the boundless grace with which He reaches out to us freely. (for the sake of our own self love)

The invitation, nonetheless, still extends out to us in the midst of our sin. It’s an invitation from the King of Kings. It’s an invitation to take His hand and leave the dirty kingdom of ourselves and enter the Kingdom of Life in His Spirit. An invitation that doesn’t require us to do anything. That doesn’t want us to do anything. Just Jesus speaking quietly to our hearts, “Say yes.”

The God Who Overcomes. . . Us

Jesus is alive and real. . .  yet how do we act?

In reality, we who claim to know Jesus often act the same as the rest of the world. Essentially, we act as if He were not real. We live our lives day by day, sometimes applying the principles that we have diligently studied through Scripture. We go to a place we call church on Sundays. . . where we make our sacrifices, maybe feel regret about our lives, possibly just zone out, but ultimately we feel better after going. We leave saying, "How refreshing to be in the house of the Lord."

But is that what refreshment really is? Is that what the living water is? Do we grow hungry once more? Do we find the fulfillment of a life that has been made NEW? The water from the well that DOES NOT go dry but wells up inside of us, satisfying us with an unfailing, everlasting love?

If we are honest, the answer is probably 'no.'

So what is real life, this Living Water? Is it the same as the thing we call, "the Christian life"? A life where we believe that THINGS are bad, and we shouldn't do them. So for example, don't steal because it's bad, don't drink because it's bad, don't have sex before marriage because it's bad, don't kill because it's bad. And other things are good . . . reading the Bible, going to church, talking about God, praying, giving, witnessing. These are the things we ought to do. . . to please God, right?

But...what about our hearts? Do you not see that despite all of our efforts to pursue "holiness," there is a much darker law at work within our hearts? That we actually desire to do the very things we are taught not to do. Despite what we know to be right, we actually hunger for sin. We hunger for ourselves.

"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me." For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to GOD through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7)

This reflection by Paul gives thoughtful reflection upon Jesus' own words, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." So... do we simply give an intellectual nod of assent to this statement but continue to live as Jesus and Paul are describing? If we do, it is the very indication that we merely have a mindful understanding of who Jesus is, not a redemptive salvation by the powerful and living God through the Spirit of Jesus that comes to live within your heart.

Isn't this what the normal Christian life is, though? A daily battle against sin, a struggle, an uphill journey every day, hard work? Isn't this normal?

No!!! If the Spirit of Christ has truly come to live in us, then Jesus has set us FREE from all these things. Freedom even from the desire for such things that we know lead to death. Freedom from our very selves. Just as Paul said, 'What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?' The answer is . . . JESUS. Jesus Himself in Spirit and in TRUTH. He HAS given us eternal life. . .  'a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Corinthians 3:6

Put to death all these qualities of the flesh (Col 3:5,8). For a child of God is not someone who looks like they are or even feels like they are, it is the one who IS one inwardly . The one who is circumcised with a circumcision not done with hands. A circumcision of the heart, and what does that mean? It means to cut off all that makes you, you. This is done not by you yourself but by the Spirit of God. If you try to cut off your sinful flesh by not doing "bad" things anymore, you will find nothing but emptiness and a lack of success. (Rom 2:29) For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if your heart is willing, the Spirit of God will put the way of your self to death by HIS power. (Rom 8:13) This is what it means to be circumcised without hands. (Col 2:11) This is what it means to put off your old self and take on the new. (Eph 4:22-24) For whoever does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The REASON the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:8-9)

"Ok, yeah, I believe in Jesus," we say. "I am a Christian and I have a personal relationship with God. But I still don't know what you're talking about. I struggle with sin every day."

But I tell you, to believe is to receive. He who claims to believe yet has not received demonstrates that their hearts are in reality still a desert that have not yet been filled and made fertile by the water of Life. Jesus has simply called you to come. . . to Him. To repent. This means to turn not from "sinful acts' or "bad things' but to turn from YOU. This is where the real test, the real trial is revealed. But if you are thirsty enough, if you have realized that your heart is really a desert that needs the water of Life, then you will LISTEN! 

"Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the water of life."(Revelation 22:17) The free gift is not Jesus died for me so that I can try hard to do things and please God. The free gift is Jesus actually cleansing my sinful heart and filling my heart with HIS heart. . . a heart that truly pleases God. 

God is pleased with nothing less. :)

It has been foretold for ages of a time where:

'The captives will be set free'

'They will beat their swords into plowshares'

'The salt water will become fresh'

'His children will never thirst nor hunger'

'God will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed'

'Many will be purified, made spotless and refined'

'His children will be betrothed to God forever'

'Christ will present us holy, without blemish, and free'

'God will not be worshiped in temples/buildings'

'His children will have the mind of Christ, knowing even the deep things of God'

'We will no longer be slave to sin'

'Christ will live in our hearts'

'We will have a new self'

'The lawless one will be revealed and destroyed'

'The God of peace will crush Satan under our feet'

'God will destroy the sinful kingdom' (which is within our hearts)

He is the God who overcomes . . . who you are.

What EVERY Christian needs to know about relationships

Relationships...the topic everyone wants to know about, right?

But... if you are reading this right now, first of all, take a moment to ask your heart, "why did I click on this post?"

It's because you are interested in knowing how to improve your relationships, of course. Maybe how to get into a relationship, maybe how to improve the one you are in, how to understand the women in your life, or the men in your life, maybe even to "see what God thinks" about relationships.You want fulfillment in your relationships, you want love, satisfaction, happiness. This is what we all want.

But what if the title of this post was "What Every Christian needs to know about letting him/herself die so that Christ would live instead" ? Would you still be interested in knowing more?

Because actually...God is not concerned about your relationships with the opposite sex. He's also not concerned about serving YOU. He is concerned about who YOU are dying. Your flesh dying. Your normal desires dying. It is only when these die in you that Christ's life can be manifested fully in you.

If you're reading this then you need to know that you are in the wrong spirit. The purpose of life is not to satisfy your own heart, but the opposite--to bear your cross.

The wrong spirit that lead you here IS death--the death of which God spoke when He said to Adam in the garden, 'If you eat of the fruit you will die.' It was not the fruit itself that was the problem; it was the abandoning of obedience to God's gentle and loving direction. Instead of living by the image in which He was made, Adam relied on his own mind, deciding for himself what was good and bad. Since the fall we have relied on the thoughts and decisions of our own minds and imaginations to direct our lives; but the imagination of all men is wrong. Our normal way of thinking actually fights against God and is unwilling/unable to submit to Him.

So today, when God allows pain and suffering to happen in our lives, or when we don't have what we want--whether it is a relationship, or money, a job, food, good health, power, etc... our 'normal way' of thinking screams "BAD!!!" It is natural for us to be offended and recoil away from God in this way, labeling it bad, evil, or the work of the devil--when in fact it is God. That recoiling is the evidence that the most important thing in our lives is ourselves. God's purpose in sending Jesus was actually to destroy this nature and replace it with a new one. It was NOT to let us keep all of our normal desires and then fit Jesus into our life somehow. We cannot fit HIM into OUR lives. He came to end OUR lives, to replace OUR nature with the ' the mind of Christ... The Holy Spirit Himself.

Some words from Jesus to consider:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me...And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

"So likewise, whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple...For whoever would save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."

We ought to say: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved  me and gave Himself for me."

When these things are true in our lives, I mean really true...why would we need, or even want, to click on blog posts seeking advice about the relationships that I think would bring ME happiness?